Can't Imagine
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: Little one shot based on 3x13. What if the witch hadn't interrupted them and Emma had finished the "I can't imagine" sentence? Swan Queen.


_Another little one shot based on 3x13. What if the witch hadn't interrupted them and Emma had finished the "I can't imagine" sentence? Swan Queen. _

"It will be too hard" Regina says, a pained haunted expression flickering in her dark eyes as they discuss the possibility of her meeting Henry.

"I can't imagine" Emma begins seeing the other woman's sadness. A crash surprises her and she looks up to the office only to find it empty. She peers out onto the street to see a cat and a broken bottle. She sighs before turning back to Regina and continuing her thought, "I can't imagine what it must be like to have him not remember"

Regina looks back over to her, "No you can't."

Emma frowns, "I can't imagine how much it must hurt Regina but we can make it better."

"How? Emma you saw what happened with the potion. It's gone. I can't get our memories back. I can't bring him back." Regina replies despondently.

"We'll find a way Regina. You can't give up. He deserves to know you and have you in his life" Emma says reassuringly before reaching out to place her hand over Regina's gloved one.

Regina smiles slightly before turning so she can fully face Emma. Daring to hope she asks, "Do you really believe that?" She has to know. After too much time fighting she has to know if Emma truly believes in her and her love for their son. She needs the answer to be yes.

Emma smiles at her, her answer needs no thought nor hesitation, "I really do." She meant what she said earlier, her lie detector always works with Regina even if sometimes she doesn't listen to it. Waking up and realising what Regina did for her and Henry only confirmed what Emma knew from the past two years, that Regina loves Henry more than anything. It also made her realise something else, something she had barely come to terms with after Neverland and never had a chance to before the new curse. Sometimes forgetting is just as painful as remembering because once she woke up she realised who she forgot and that is what compelled her to come back here. Yes, it was also because of Henry and her family, but it was also because the first face she saw after Henry's in her memories was the face she wanted to remember most.

At the positive answer Regina smiles again, that smile reserved just for Emma, even if she isn't consciously aware of it. It was only after she watched Emma disappear with their son that she realised the loneliness she had cursed herself to. She hadn't just lost her son but she had lost a love she never got to voice. She couldn't even openly grieve for Emma the way she had Henry because she didn't feel she could. After all her love had been kept quiet so why not her mourning?

Seeing them in the Diner this morning was like a new form of hell. Her son, her little prince, looked right for her and she felt for certain that she was lost, doomed to a life where she would have to watch the ghosts of her past not know her. Then Emma stood and came over to her and looked at her, just truly looked at her with that understanding and care she had shown in Neverland when they had nearly lost Henry. Just like that a little bit of hope opened up in her heart because she couldn't imagine that she would ever see either of them again and yet here they were. Here she was.

They sit in silence for several minutes before Regina works up the courage to speak again. "It hurts" she says.

Emma turns to her before taking Regina's other hand in her own. She knows that what she's about to hear will be painful, she can feel the sorrow radiating off the other woman and as much as she wants to escape that hurt she can't because Regina gave up everything for her and now it's her turn to be the strong one, to be there for Regina and give her what she needs, what she deserves.

At the contact Regina continues, "Not knowing where you two were damn near broke my heart Emma. I had to watch you go, I had to watch him go and know that to him I was just a story on the page. I wasn't his Mom but a cartoon villain. The pain just never stopped. All I could see when I closed my eyes was this Bug driving over the line. I didn't even know if it worked, if the life I had given you two was good. I couldn't even know if he was happy which was all I wanted. Every second of every minute hurt. He couldn't remember Emma but I couldn't forget. I know for me it's only been a few days but they've been the worst days of my life. And then you showed up. I walked into that Diner trying to stay strong and keep moving because I knew if I stopped then I might just claw my own heart out of my chest and crush it to try and make it stop. At first I didn't think it was real. I wondered if I was going crazy. I don't know if that would have been better. Before he may have been gone but now I have to see him and see in his eyes that I am nothing to him and I didn't think anything could hurt more than watching this car drive over the town line but I was wrong because this is agony Emma."

Emma can feel tears brimming in her own eyes as Regina begins to cry freely over the torment of not knowing Henry. She truly can't imagine the level of pain Regina is in right now. To lose Henry is one thing, but for him to be right there and still know he is lost to her must be another level of hell. She can't imagine her life without Henry in it, it's thanks to Regina that she doesn't have to and Emma thinks that it's time to repay the favour.

She reaches forward before pulling Regina in for a hug. It's awkward in the tight space of the Bug but they make it work, Regina resting her head against Emma's shoulder as she cries and looping her arms around her waist as Emma holds her tightly. "We'll make you something to him" Emma says.

Regina looks up through teary eyes, "How? Why are you doing this for me?" she asks.

Emma smiles at her, "Because you're important to him, even if he doesn't know it. And you're important to me."

"What?"

"Regina you gave me an incredible life but as soon as I remembered that life hurt because I knew what, who I had forgotten. Henry and I, we were happy you know? You gave me that life that I always wondered about and you let me just be his Mom which I will never stop being grateful for but then I remembered you. I took that memory potion and I saw my parents, my friends and this town but the first face I saw after Henry's was yours. As much as I wanted to stay and continue living in that dream you made for me I couldn't because I remembered you and I knew I never wanted to forget."

"Emma what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I fell in love with you and I never got a chance to tell you because I had to forget you. That was my torture Regina because I woke up knowing that I didn't get to tell you that I love you. So I had to come back. I'm the saviour and Henry says that that means I bring back the happy endings and that includes mine and yours."

"You love me?" Regina asks with a growing smile.

"I love you" Emma confirms.

Regina lets out a half laugh, half sob, before leaning up and kissing Emma, something she wished she had done before Neverland and certainly before the curse. She's just grateful that now she has a second chance.

As they kiss Regina's eyes widen and she pulls away with a gasp as images flash before her eyes. _Burying her heart. A wicked witch. Her sister. Living with Snow and Charming. The threat of a new curse. Making the potion and praying it would work. Sending it to Hook. A witch's victorious laugh as her curse hit_.

"Regina?" Emma asks in concern as she watches Regina gasp and shudder before she looks to Emma, a tear rolling down her cheek. She remembers a year of pain and misery, a year where she tried her best to forget Emma and Henry but couldn't. She smiles again seeing Emma here before her, "I remember" she says with a widening grin, "I remember and I love you"

Emma grins before pulling her in for another tight embrace, "You remember?"

Regina nods, "I do. He still won't though" she adds sadly. Emma simply holds her tighter, "Then we'll build new memories, the three of us together until he does. Because you remember and I remember and I know I never want to forget again."

Regina smiles, "Me neither. Do you think it will work? Do you think we can really get him back?"

Emma nods, "it will be slow and it will hurt Regina but I'll be here. No matter what happens the three of us are going to be together because I can't imagine our family being apart again"

_Thanks for reading :)_


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